Corn also became an important part of the diets of the people of the regions it spread to. Maize is believed to have come from the domestication of a tall Mexican grass called Teosinte. It was domesticated in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico where the Mayans and Aztecs grew the corn. The first corn grew about 7000 years ago in Mexico (Gibson and Benson “Origin History of Corn”). Over a period of 1000 years the Native Americans transformed Maize by using selective breeding.
He occupies most of the 470 acres to growing corn. Farming corn is all about the high yield harvesting from each acre of land. The enormous amount of corn harvest keeps the industrial food machine operating. After all the hard work the farmers put into the corn harvesting, the farmers are barely making a living. The high yield of corn, it’s depleting the land of the vital nutrients to grown corn.
Nevertheless, if we studied the American industry, we would find that there is one basic ingredient that seems to be in just about everything: - corn. Our food industry here in America is strongly based on corn, and as the author points out, it is used in countless forms, from being fed to livestock, to being used in processed items such as yogurt or beer. Mr. Pollan also explains just how corn came to govern the American markets and industrial food chain due to a number of factors. He also pays a visit to George Naylor’s farm in
(Document 2) The cultivation of plants also showed the ingenuity of the Aztecs. As described by Cortes, they built artificial floating gardens that allowed for more crop growth and easy irrigation. (Document 7) Among the crops planted was Maize or simply corn. The importance of this crop to the Aztecs was obvious as images exist of its planting dating back to as far as 8000 BCE. (Document 9) Seemingly the backbone of the Meso-american diet, corn was kept under strict watch, along with other numerous crops.
Pollan made me think of how much corn that I myself consume, to a point II started looking through my own cupboards to check ingredients. The author went into great detail into the science and anatomy of the corn plant. Pollan described the origins of the plant and he went into, what this reviewer feels as an overkill, of the molecular structure that was like a high school science review that escalated to a college botany course. Pollan began talking about the sex of corn and the germination process to a point that I was hearing late night Cinemax background music. When the author traveled to the Iowa farm I found very interesting, as far as the description of the land, the sounds of the tractor and the feel of the weather.
“Calories are calories…protein is protein,” as stated by Michael Pollen in his book, The Omnivores Dilemma, when discussing the industrial logic many factory farms associate with feeding cattle corn and rendered cow parts (Pollen, 2006, p.75). This is true at a molecular level; however, there are unwanted substances in corn fed beef. For example, there is an increased amount of saturated fat. “A growing body of research suggests that many of the health problems associated with eating beef are really problems with corn-fed beef” (Pollen p. 75). Adding in additional substances to the cows corn diet, such as remnant cow parts, has led to e-coli out breaks in humans and continued to spread mad cow disease.
in miss dulz's account in document six it is seen that women were married to a rich Mexican farmers or happily and line prosperously. However rural Women shown in the 1987 newsletter and document seven or put under more pressure and generate more costs for the seeds fertilizers and pesticides. The initial for all the newly scientific crops was to provide peace and in trouble of hunger. In the graphs of document one into it can be seen the food production was skyrocketed. Dr. Norman Borlong an American agriculturalist involved in the green revolution says that the green revolution is to help allying countries and has generated a hope for new generations of men.
The Polyface Farm differed in what Joel fed his cattle. Instead of corn, Joel fed them grass. 4. The family in the movie often bought soda and chips instead of vegetables. Why?
Corporations like Monsanto who are attributed to producing over 80% of the corn, and over 90% of soy produced each year, don’t care if the seeds they create are harmful for us and the environment. Same goes for the meat and poultry companies they are producing food that is unhealthy and making billions on it. All of the monsanto seeds are unleashed on the public with no prior testing for safety. So eating genetically modified food is like participating in a global
Beef, it’s what’s for Dinner When most of us walk into a supermarket we probably seldom thought seriously about what kind of beef we were about to eat. Was this beef from a cow that was corn-fed or was it a cow that was grass-fed? Today most of the beef you see in the supermarket is corn-fed. After watching the documentary Food Inc., it got me thinking about what if we just ate beef from grass-fed cattle. Would we be healthier and safer or is that just a load of manure.